China and Yao, Treaty of Nanking
by kazesia
Summary: A look into Yao's thoughts on the Treaty of Nanking.


A/N: Just a short drabble on China/Yao's thoughts about the treaty of Nanjing.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.

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"_It being obviously necessary and desirable that British subjects should have some port whereat they may [maintain] and refit their ships when required, and keep stores for that purpose, His Majesty the Emperor of China cedes to Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain, &c., the Island of Hong-Kong, to be possessed in perpetuity by Her Britannic Majesty, her heirs and successors, and to be governed by such laws and regulations as Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain, &c., shall see fit to direct."_

Yao gripped the piece of paper with trembling hands as his eyes traced the words again and again.

All around him he could hear the Chinese officials arguing and complaining about allowing the British to reside in the different parts of Southern China, the millions demanded by the United Kingdom, or how this treaty would mean that the poisonous opium would continue on destroying the dynasty; but the only thought that ran through Yao's mind was _'Hong Kong would be ceded to United Kingdom'_.

To China, the loss of Hong Kong was not particularly damaging. True, it would mean England would have a new territory under his growing empire and it would make stopping the opium imports harder, but Hong Kong, aside from being a trading port, held nothing particularly important to China and closing borders from Hong Kong to China would be very simple. China had more important things to worry about than a small island.

To Yao, however, Jia Long is his brother; his hard working, eager-to-please younger brother. Jia Long only manifested as Hong Kong when the British began trading with China; so Yao, to ensure that the child would not be overly influenced by Arthur, spent a most of his time in Hong Kong raising Jia Long. As a result, it was the first time after thousands of years that Yao had personally raised another personification and Jia Long, in turn, grew to be more like Yao than any of his other provinces.

And now…

_The Emperor of China cedes to Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain, &c., the Island of Hong-Kong_

It was ironic that the personifications that Yao spent the most time with, those that he had a personal attachment to, would be the ones to break away from him, like Japan and Korea. Jia Long was supposed to be different; the fact that Hong Kong's land was hilly and relatively barren was always secret comfort to Yao, it meant that Jia Long would never be important enough to foreign powers to be taken away.

But there was nothing that can be done. The war took their toll. As the winner, the United Kingdom held all the cards. He only hoped that Arthur would raise Jia Long well.

That was all he could do. Hope.

After all, he is _China_. What Yao wants doesn't matter; China must always listen to his bosses.

And so, Yao closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, then faces England to argue about Articles II and VII of the treaty.

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Author's Note: I hoped you enjoyed reading this short story. Please inform me if there are any grammar/historical mistakes in this. I'd really appreciate any thoughts and/or criticisms of this piece. Thanks for your time.

The Articles mentioned in this story is from the Treaty of Nanking (南京條約). The reference used is from wiki/Treaty_of_Nanking. The starting paragraph is the exact copy of Article III.

Article II : British subjects, with their families and establishments, shall be allowed to reside, for the purposes of carrying on their mercantile pursuits, without molestation or restraint, at the cities and towns of Canton, Amoy, Foochowfoo, Ningpo, and Shanghai

Article VI : China will pay a total of twenty one millions to the United Kingdom for the debt incurred by Hong merchants, value of opium delivered to Canton, and for the expenses incurred by the United Kingdom on sending an expedition to set right the violent and unjust proceedings by China towards British citizens.


End file.
